Vegetable slicer



RAMJIMD July 10, 1.923.

R. A. PORTER VEGETABLE SLICER Filed Nov. 15 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'glvwvntoz ES UhSEZ A. FUPZEP Jul 10, 1923.

HAELMQB R. A. PORTER VEGETABLE SLICER Filed Nov. 15, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ely 077552 A.Parzez- Patented July 10, 1923.

STTES RAPHAEL A. PORTER, OIE PAYSON, UTAH.

VEGETABLE SLICER.

Application filed November 15, 1922. Serial No. 601,105.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, RAPHAEL A. PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Payson, in the county of Utah and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vegetable Slicers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to devices for preparing vegetables, and particularly to means for slicing or dicing vegetables such as potatoes or other commodities which it may be desired to cut up into pieces of uniform size.

One of the objects is to provide a device of this kind having knives extending in two series transversely of each other, with means whereby the knives of either set may be readily removed and re-adjusted so as to increase or decrease the size of the slices, cubes or other pieces cut by the knives.

A further object is to provide improved means whereby the knives may be tensioned,

said means also acting to lock the knives in place.

A still further object is to provide a mechanism of this character wherein the knives are firmly held in place under ordinary circumstances, but in which any one knife may be readily removed if at any time it is desired to replace this knife or to take the knives out for sharpening.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which may be so adjusted as to slice the vegetable into very thin slices, into larger slices or whereby the vegetable can be cut into small square pieces.

I Otherobjects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein V Figure 1 is a plan view of a vegetable slicer constructed in accordance with my invention, the frame beingbroken away;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Figure 1. j i

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen. that one of the elements of my. improved cutteris a frame which is rectangular in plan view and consists of four side pieces 10 and 10 having miter joints 11. These side pieces 10 and 10? are. not connected to each other at the miter joints but simply engage against each other. Thus these pieces 10 and 10 are able to shift with relation to each other within certaimlimits. Each of these members 10 and 10 as illustrated in Figure 3, has a vertical outer face, a vertical inner face 12 extending downward for a certain distance from the top face 13, and a downwardlyand outwardly inclined face 14. Transverse slots 15 extend upward from the lower edge of each member 10 to any desired distance. The outer face of each member 10 or 10 is formed with a longitudinally extending groove 16 which intersects the slots or kerfs 15.

Coacting with the opposite members 10 are a series of blades 17 of a length sufiicient to extend across the frame formed by the members 10 and 10 and to project slightly beyond the outer faces of these members. These blades are apertured at the ends for a rod 18 which fits within the recess 16 and extends through the like ends of all of that series of blades. The members 10 have the kerfs 0r slots 15 extended to a greater depth than the kerfs of the members 10, and the grooves 16 are disposed on a level lower than the grooves 16 in the members 10*. As

aconsequence of this, the'series of blades,

17 are disposed on a lower level than the blades 17. These blades 17 are held in place in the members 10" in exactly the same manner as the blades 17 are held in place in the members 10. The upper edges of the blades 17 may be slightly toothed or may be beveled, but I do not wish to be limited to the exact formation of these cuttingedges.

Coacting with the frame formed by the members 10 and 10 is a rectangular base frame 19 formed of side and end pieces but these side and end pieces are rigidly engaged with each other. This frame, as illus trated most clearly in Figure 3, has a vertical inner face 20, a face 21 which extends upward from the lower face of the frame a certain distance, and a face 22 which is upwardly and inwardly inclined so as to have wedging engagement with the faces 14 of the members 10 and 10. The frame 19 is likewise formed with slots 23 corresponding to the slots 15 and adapted, to fit over the blades 17 and 17. When the first named frame is forced downward, it will be obvious that it will have wedging engagement with the base frame 19 and that it will tend to force the members 10 away. from each other and the members 10 away from each other. In other words. the frame will be expanded equally in all directions. Thls expansion of the frame will tension the knives 19.

The frame 19 constitutes an expander and any suitable means maybe provided for forcing this upper frame downward onto the expander to expand the frame 19. I have illustrated for this purpose, however, transverse braces 24 and 25, the brace 24c being disposed below the lower frame 19 and the brace25 above the upper frame, and passing through these braces at the corners of the two frames are the bolts 26 having the nuts 27. By tightening up upon these nuts it will be seen that the frame 19 may be forced into the frame formed of the members and 10 and thus the cutters or blades be expanded in all directions, thus securing a very high degree of tension on these blades so that the bladeswillnot bend in actual use. Under some circumstances it is, of course, advisable that the vegetables to be cut or diced shall be forced mechanically through my d eviceand past the blades 17 and 17. do not wish to be limited to any particular means for this purpose, as many machines of the same general character as mine are provided with means of this kind and such means is well known. A1 plunger may be used for instance, operating within the frame .19 to force the vegetables through the knives. ,This plunger may be operated by a screw, lever, or by a crank shaft. I have illustrated a simplemeans for this purpose wherein the plunger 28 is operated by means one. lever 29, but any other means might be usedwithout departing from,the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

'Ihes'e machines may be made of any size from a very small size for kitchen use to a large size forv commercial use, and are of particular value for the preparation of potatoes, andpotato products, though obviously the machine might be used for other purposes. will be seen that by entirely removing one series of knives and using all of the knives of the other series that a vegetablemay be sliced into very thin slices, and that by filling all of the slots in both series of slots with knives the vegetables canv be out into very small squarepieces, and that removing more or less of the knives from either one series or the other series or both sieries that the vegetables may be cut intoany desired size or rectangular form. Of'course, I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction illustrated, as these maybe varied in many ways, but a deiziiie "ofthis character is ,very simple, conven ent and effective and is particularly valujablein preparing potato products for mark cl fisn vegetable cutter including coacting 65 rectangular frames, one of said frames bein formed of separate sections, the sections beln'g shiftable away from each other, the confronting faces of the frames being beveled downward and inward whereby when said frames are forced toward each other the sections of the first named frame will be forced uniformly away from each other, and a series of blades carried by the first named frame, the separation of said sections under the action of the second named frame acting to tension said blades.

2. A vegetable cutter including coacting rectangular frames, one of said frames being formed of separate sections, the sections being shiftable away from each other, the confronting faces of the frames being beveled downward and inward whereby when said frames are forced toward each other the sections of the first named frame will be forced uniformly away from each other, both. of said frames being formed with kerfs extending inward from their confronting edges, and a series of knives disposed in the kerfs of one ,frame an having their outer ends engaged wit-h the outer faces of the sections of the first named frame.

3. A vegetable cutter including coacting rectangular frames, one of said frames being formed of separate sections, the sections being shiftabie away from each other, the confronting faces of the frames being beveled downward and inward whereby when said frames are forced toward each other the sections of the first named frame will be forced uniformly away from each other, both of said frames being formed with kerfs extending inward from their confronting edges, and a series of blades disposed in the kerfs of the firstnamed frame, the blades being apertured at their outer ends and pro jecting beyond the outer faceof said first named frame, and rods extending through said, apertures and bearing against the faces of the sections of said first named frame.

4. A. vegetable cutter including coacting rectangular frames, one of said framesbeing formed of separate sections, the sections being shiftable away from each other, the confronting faces of the frames being beveled downward and inward whereby when said frames are forced toward each other these sections of the first named frame will be forced uniformly away, from each other, both of said frames being formed with kerfs extending inward from their confrontmg edges, a series of blades disposed in the kerfs of the first namedframa the blades being apertured at their outer ends and pro jecting beyond the outer face of said first named frame, and rods extending through said apertures and bearing against the faces of the sections of said first named frame, the outer faces of said sections being grooved to receive said rods 5. A vegetable cutter including enacting rectangular frames, one of said frames being formed of separate sections, the sections being shiftable away from each other, the confronting faces of the frames being beveled downward and inward whereby when said frames are forced toward each other the sections of the first named frame will be forced uniformly away from each other, both of said frames being formed with kerfs extending inward from their confronting edges, a series of blades disposed in the kerfs of the first named frame, the blades being apertured at their outer ends and projecting beyond the outer face of said first, named frame, rods extending through said apertures and bearing against the faces of the sections of said first named frame, and means for forcing said frames together to cause the second named frame to wedge the sections of the first named frame outward.

6. A vegetable cutter including coacting frames, one of said frames being formed of separate sections shiftable away from each other, means acting when said frames are forced toward each other to cause the sections of the first named frame to be forced away from each other, and a series of blades carried by the first named frame, the separation of said sections acting to tension the blades.

7 In a vegetable cutter and slicer, a frame composed of four sections in rectangular relation and the sections having miter joints and abutting against each other at their ends but being separate from each other, rectangular expander coacting with the first named frame, the abutting faces of the expander and of the sections of the frame having upwardly and outwardly inclined faces whereby when the expander is inserted into the first named frame it will cause the expansion of the sections of the latter, opposite sections of the first named frame having a series of kerfs extending from the edge of the section, the confronting portion of the expander having a like series of kerfs, a series of blades extending in one direction and passingthrough the kerfs of opposed sections of the first named frame, a series of blades at right angles to the first named blades and disposed in the kerfs of the other sections, means engaging the ends of the blades against the outer faces of said sections, and means for forcing the expander toward the sectional frame to thereby spread the sections of said frame.

'8. In a vegetable cutter and slicer, a frame composed of four sections in rectangular relation and the sections having miter joints and abutting against each other at their ends but being separate from each other, a rectangular expander coacting with the first named frame, the abutting faces of the expander and of the sections of the frame having upwardly and outwardly inclined faces whereby when the expander is inserted into the first named frame it will cause the expansion of the sections of the latter, opposite sections of the first named frame having a series of kerfs extending from the edge of the section, the confront mg portion of the expander having a like series of lrerfs, a series of blades extending 1n one direction and passing through the lrerfs of opposed sections of the first named frame, a series of blades at right angles to the first named blades and disposed in the kerfs of the other sections, means engaging the ends of the blades against the outer faces of said sections, means for forcing the expander toward the sectional frame to thereby spread the sections of said frame, and means for forcing the vegetables to be cut against said blades.

9. In a vegetable slicer and cutter, an ex pansible frame supporting a series of cutters, an expander which when forced against said frame causes the expansion thereof, cutters carried by the first named frame, and means for forcing the frame and expander toward each other to thereby expand the first named frame.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

RAPHAEL A. PORTER. 

